(Due to arrive Melbourne-11.7.25)

My dear P.M.,

My dinner to Sir John Baird [1] went off quite reasonably well and
he appeared to 'mix' well. People who meet him seem to like him.

Lady Ethel Baird seems a very pleasant woman. She is daughter of
the Earl of Kintore and apparently has to be called Lady Ethel. He
is very interested in flying and I gather from him that this is
the string he intends to play a good deal in Australia. He wants
to pilot a machine himself from Melbourne to Sydney, and hopes by
example to popularise flying. He says he is trying to get an
R.A.F. officer as one of his A.D.C.s, and Sir Hugh Trenchard [2]
is looking out for someone for him.

Lord Forster [3] wrote a stiff letter to the Colonial Office
lately complaining that he had not been kept informed by them
about the progress of negotiations regarding the Migration
Agreement. [4] The cables by means of which the arrangements were
finalised apparently passed between Sir Joseph Cook's [5] office
and yours, and apart from some few brief official C.O. cables
through the Governor-General to you, the latter had no information
until it was all announced. The C.O. admitted their guilt and
cabled an apology. It has been suggested here that in such
circumstances the simplest plan might be for your Private
Secretary to make available to the Governor-General copies of
correspondence and cables that pass.

Amery [6] was a good deal disappointed at the refusal of the
Dominions to come to an Imperial Conference on the Protocol issue
('the far reaching problems affecting the security of the Empire
and its future relations to the countries of Europe and the United
States').

He has said, in effect, on several occasions since that it is
difficult to get the Dominions to give sufficient attention to
matters of common Imperial concern outside their own borders. He
has it in mind to suggest holding Imperial Conferences not
biennially but quarterly, two in London and two in the Dominions
in each year, with the idea of educating the Dominions up to an
idea of real and constant co-operation in Imperial matters. In
conversation with him on this subject, Hankey [7] said that he did
not think it practicable to hold them more often than every six
months. Even in case of such frequent meeting as this, it could
not be expected that P.M.s could attend personally, to which Amery
agreed.

I understand that the main reason for Amery's contemplated tour to
Australia, South Africa and Canada is to discuss the above with
the Dominions.

There is always a certain amount of mutual criticism between the
F.O. and the C.O. It will not be made any less by Amery's remark
in a private speech at the Ralegh Club at Oxford, with Sir Cecil
Hurst's [8] son present (obviously unknown to Amery), that the
Protocol was evolved by 'a set of amiable jurists' at Geneva!
Amery's Private Secretary reminded me lately that on two recent
occasions items which by mutual arrangement were to be released on
a certain date, simultaneously in London and Australia, had been
made known prematurely in Australia. One was the appointment of
Sir John Baird, cables with regard to which arrived in London from
Australia the day before the due date; the other was connected
with Lady Cook's [9] D.B.E. Apparently Sir Langdon Bonython [10]
cabled congratulations to 'Dame Mary Cook' the day prior to the
public announcement of the Birthday Honours.

They are far from wanting to make any official writing on the
subject, but they indicated that it makes them look rather foolish
when the Press here comes to them (as they invariably do in these
cases) asking for confirmation of news which isn't due for release
till next day.

I now hear on the best authority that the story of Lord Burnham's
[11] alleged invitation to consider the Governor-Generalship of
Australia resulted from a remark of Amery's to him at dinner one
night. Amery, in talking generally of the post, said: 'I don't
suppose you would consider anything of that sort'-to which Burnham
said that it was impossible on account of his age, his interests
here and his general unsuitability. Burnham told his wife and his
wife told a friend at a social gathering at which some woman
journalist was present, who made the story available to one of the
Australian press representatives here. So that what I said in a
previous letter as to 'kite-flying' was really only indiscretion.

Henry Ford's entry into the aircraft industry in U.S. is of
particular interest. I sincerely hope he will embrace this
activity on his establishing his plant in Australia.

I am, Yours sincerely,
R. G. CASEY